Cristy is the Senior Associate Director of Merchandise Management for University of Missouri Stores. Her team sources textbooks and general merchandise for all of the bookstores in the UM System – The Mizzou Store, UMKC Bookstores, The S&T Store, and UMSL Triton Store – as well as the Tiger Team Store. Her goal is to provide merchandise and course materials to support the Mizzou community – students, fans, alumni and faculty and staff. So if you’ve bought a tee shirt, pint glass, notebook or textbook from The Mizzou Store you’re already familiar with her team’s work. Cristy also enjoys mentoring and educating student employees as part of her role.

Cristy graduated from Mizzou in 2006 with a BSBA in Marketing and a minor in TAM. Her TAM courses set her on a path to pursue a career in retail, starting out with the CMA program at Payless ShoeSource World Headquarters. There she received an excellent foundation in merchandising, especially enjoying her roles in assortment planning and merchandise planning. But after four years away in Kansas it was time to come home to CoMo. She found a great fit in the UM Stores organization as the apparel buyer. It was fun and challenging to go from corporate retail to working for the University of Missouri designing custom merchandise. Since then, Cristy has held positions of increasing responsibility in the University of Missouri Stores organization.

Michele is the owner and president of Dave Griggs’ Flooring America, a residential and commercial flooring company in Columbia, Missouri. She began her career with the company in 1989 after graduating from the University of Missouri with a degree in Textile and Apparel Merchandising. Over the years, Michele advanced within the organization and became the sole business owner in 2016.
 
Under her leadership, Dave Griggs’ Flooring America has been recognized as a Certified Woman-Owned Business by the State of Missouri. Michele has also served on the Flooring America Advisory Council, contributing to a network of over 500 independently owned flooring stores across the United States and Canada.
 
Michele is actively involved in her community. She is a past chair of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and Women’s Network and continues to serve the Chamber as an Ambassador. She is also a member of the Mizzou Alumni Association. Currently, Michele serves as the chair of The Loop Community Improvement District, working to bring improvements to central Columbia and attract and retain innovative businesses, employees, makers, and investors.
 
Her dedication to mentorship and community service has been recognized by various organizations. Michele was honored as the 2021 Woman of Excellence in Retail by COMO Magazine, has been the recipient of the Debin Benish Outstanding Business Woman Award and received a Citation of Merit from the College of Human and Environmental Sciences.
 
As a member of the University of Missouri’s Textile and Apparel Management (TAM) Advisory Board, Michele brings her extensive experience in retail and business management to support and guide the next generation of industry professionals. She credits her TAM degree as instrumental in her career in retail, flooring, and textiles.

Barbara is a Missouri University TAM Graduate, 1980. With a lifetime of living and working in the Kansas City community, Barb Bloch brings a unique skill set to the field of Philanthropy. During the past 37 years, Barb had been involved in the rich heritage of the Kansas City Garment Industry as an Entrepreneur, Retailer, and as a National Recruiter for two prestigious companies which allowed her the ability to forge friendships and personal ties in the business community, locally and nationally.

During her years in the Kansas City business arena, Barb also pursued her interest in community work and nonprofit board engagement. She has served on or is currently serving as the Jewish Federation’s Chair of their Allocations Committee for Kansas City and served on their Board Selection and Training Committee. She is currently serving on the Dean’s Council for Human Environmental Sciences  and served during the “Our Time To Lead Campaign” at the University of Missouri-Columbia and keeps a hand in the happenings at the Bloch Entrepreneurial School on the UMKC campus. She was involved in the Boy Scouts of America, and is an Honored Woman in the tribe Mic-O-Say. Barb is a past Gala Chair of and a current board member of The Heart Of America’s Shakespeare Festival and helps each year with their auction selections. Through these opportunities she has become very familiar with best practices of nonprofit governance and fund development. In 2014, Barb was hired by Pelofsky & Associates as Director of Major Gifts. She worked with numerous clients on individual donor solicitation, cultivation, and growth. In 2019, she joined the Byrne Pelofsky team and continues to provide expert consultation and guidance for nonprofit agencies. Barb’s path, a little like the Yellow Brick Road- a little windy, but ending with a clear path to the finish! Barb’s secret: many of her connections are from those rolodex files and bridges you should never burn.

Laura is a Global Business Leader known for maximizing growth and profitability through product innovation and visionary leadership. Her areas of expertise are Product Development, Design Management, and Manufacturing for fashion luxury brands.

Currently living in Texas, Laura is the Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain at KENDRA SCOTT LLC, an Austin based jewelry and accessory company. She holds full accountability for overall management of the global supply chain including, Development, Sourcing, Production, Quality, and Procurement.

Prior to joining KENDRA SCOTT, Laura was Vice President for DAVID YURMAN, a luxury-based jewelry company and was based in Bangkok, Thailand managing the manufacturing operations for Asia. Additional overseas experience includes her role as Country Manager for COACH INC. in Vietnam where she established and launched the first office and team in Saigon. There she led all operational aspects of the supply chain. Prior to living in Vietnam, Laura worked in the New York headquarters as a leader in development, engineering, and technical design commercializing product for Handbags and Accessories.

Additionally, Laura spearheaded Design and Development at organizations that include LIZ CLAIBORNE INC., and the NINE WEST GROUP INC. Laura also has professional experience in both the wholesale and retail environments.

Laura received her BS in Fashion Design and Merchandising from the University of Missouri and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Textile and Apparel Management School. Laura also trained at the University of Bradford in England and ARS Arpel in Milan, Italy.

Nicole holds the position of Vice President of Sales & Marketing at DRI Duck Traders, Inc., an affiliate company of Design Resources Inc.  Nicole leads a talented team, committed to doing more than necessary, to ensure DRI Duck delivers on its brand promise to build high-quality, comfortable workwear that lasts. In her current role, Nicole spearheads collaborative efforts to set the product line each season, develops brand marketing strategies and propels sales growth across all divisions. With a career spanning two decades at DRI Duck, Nicole has played a pivotal role in shaping the brand’s DNA, positioning it for sustained growth in the years ahead. 

An alumna of the University of Missouri’s Textile & Apparel Management program, Nicole’s passion for merchandising, marketing and sales was ignited during her academic years.  Notably, she has served on the TAM Advisory Board since 2017 and assumed the prestigious role of chair in 2018 and 2019.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Nicole cherishes life in Kansas City suburb, Lee’s Summit, with her husband, Trigg, and two children, Nash and Charlie.

Heath serves as President of Marquee Brands. In this role, he oversees Marquee’s owned brands and leads global licensing and partnership development, while shaping the company’s mid and long-term strategies.

Until April 2022, Heath served as EVP, Chief Financial & Strategy Officer of Randa Apparel & Accessories. Heath assumed the CFO position during April 2020, which led to him successfully navigating RAA through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to taking on the CFO role, Heath served as EVP, Chief Strategy Officer of RAA and President of Randa Digital Labs. In his role as CSO, Heath led the acquisitions of the Haggar and Tribal brands, as well as a significant ownership stake in Moss Bros., a leading UK menswear retailer. These acquisitions transformed RAA into a diverse, $1+ billion provider and retailer of apparel and accessories across a broad portfolio of owned and licensed brands. As President of Randa Digital Labs, Heath oversaw RAA’s early-stage investment portfolio, led its efforts to build digital first, direct to consumer businesses and supported the omnichannel efforts of RAA’s retail partners through innovative digital marketing, content, and visual merchandising strategies, which paved the way for RAA’s explosive growth on eCommerce platforms, including Amazon.

Before joining Randa, Heath was President, Americas for Bendon where he conceived of and launched Heidi Klum Intimates and re-launched Frederick’s of Hollywood as an online pureplay. This followed eight years at Hampshire Group, where he joined as VP of Business Development and rose to CEO. During this time, he transformed the publicly-held, domestic sweater business into a sportswear provider serving all channels of distribution and multiple geographies.

Heath began his career as an M&A and private equity lawyer at leading law firms.

Young is a 1992 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. After serving 7 years in the US Army, he joined Cintas Corp in Mason (Cincinnati) OH in 1999. He worked in different business divisions including the Industrial Laundering, Facility Services, Manufacturing and Corporate headquarters. His work has taken him across the United States, Canada, and internationally. He had the pleasure of working at the Cintas location in Columbia, MO in the early 2000s and work closely with students and leaders from the Department of Textile and Apparel Management at MU. In early 2023 Young joined Miura, boiler manufacturer and steam solutions company. Young has been promoted to Miura America’s Vice President of Sales Operations.

Young supports Miura America, Canada and Miura employees across North America and travels internationally fully supporting company’s mission of providing safest, most reliable, and efficient total solutions for steam generation with the smallest environmental impact. Young advocates for sustainable energy solutions for all industry including textiles, laundry, food & beverage, healthcare, and others.  He works with great employees in sales, operations and senior executives. Young and his wife Laura enjoy traveling, being active in the outdoors and spending time with family including their golden doodle, Fenway.

Jake is a marketing trailblazer who has spent over a decade shaping the social media landscape. A proud graduate of the University of Missouri, Jake was an early adopter of social media and content marketing, pioneering the use of influencer partnerships before they became the industry standard. He’s passionate about showing today’s students how to turn big ideas into even bigger opportunities.

Just 12 days after graduation, Jake moved to the big city and hasn’t looked back. Now based in San Francisco, he’s the founder of Just Jake & Co., a creative agency that blends influencer marketing and experiential campaigns to create unforgettable, FOMO-worthy moments both online and in person. From Coachella activations to first-of-its-kind influencer programs for brands like Not Your Mother’s, Alaska Airlines, Fairmont Hotels & more, Jake’s expertise lies in helping brands connect with audiences in ways that spark buzz, excitement, and genuine engagement.

Beyond running his agency, Jake is expanding into projects with a purpose—focusing on sustainability, community impact, and empowering the next generation of business leaders. He believes in the power of innovation to drive meaningful change, both in business and beyond.

When he’s not collaborating with influencers or leading creative campaigns, Jake loves traveling the world with his husband, Cristobal, and spending time with their cat Grace and dog Frankie.

Misty is a 2000 graduate of the Mizzou TAM program and currently the Vice President of Merchandising and Design for Build-A-Bear Workshop. With 25 years of experience, her passion for product has been a consistent driving force. Before joining Build-A-Bear in 2011, she held roles at May Company and Macy’s in Technical Design, at Soft Surroundings in fabric/trim development and product testing and gained early retail experience at American Eagle and Bath & Body Works while attending college.
 
An active Mizzou alumna, Misty has contributed to various volunteer efforts and was honored with the Graduate of the Last Decade Award in 2008. She enjoys traveling with her family and close friends, exploring destinations around the globe.
 
Misty resides in Chesterfield, Missouri, with her husband, David, and stepdaughter, Ava.

Rachel is the Sr. Director of AI Activation at Moveable Ink, a marketing SaaS company enabling marketers to activate data within personalized content across touchpoints. In her current role, she leads the go-to-market efforts supporting the integration and scaling of the newly acquired AI personalization engine across retail clients, helping marketers successfully incorporate the use of AI-driven content into their digital marketing campaigns and workflows.

Prior to the acquisition, Rachel was in a Director of Strategy | Retail role, leading consulting engagements with a select group of retail clients, providing thought leadership and strategic guidance of the best way to leverage Movable Ink within their MarTech stack.

Prior to joining Movable Ink, Rachel worked on the client-side in a variety of marketing and CRM roles within the luxury retail space. She spent six years at Neiman Marcus, where she oversaw Personalization and CRM Marketing across email, SMS, and mobile app, in addition to leading a cross-functional agile team, focusing on A/B testing and scaling personalized customer experiences across stores and online. Rachel lives in Manhattan, NY with her fiancé, Carlos, and their corgi, Archie.

Debbie is the SVP GM of Caleres’ portfolio brands, including LifeStride, Bzees, Ryka, and Blowfish. She assumes the added responsibility of Blowfish in June of 2023.

Krivelow joined Caleres, a $2.6B global footwear company that puts consumers and their needs first, by targeting the strategic Heritage, Forward Movement and Self Expression platforms, in 2006 as an account director for the Naturalizer brand. In 2007, Krivelow was promoted to director of sales. She became National Sales Manager in 2008. In 2009, Krivelow was promoted to VP of Natural Soul and the Naturalizer makeup brand. In 2011, she was promoted to vice president, general manager of the LifeStride division. In 2013, Krivelow was promoted to senior vice president, general manager of the LifeStride and Ryka brands.

Krivelow has an extensive retail background including more than a decade of experience at Filene’s Department Stores before joining Caleres. At Filenes, she was an executive trainee and held numerous buying positions.

Deb began her career as an executive trainee for Filene’s Department Stores (a division of May Company) in 1994. She held numerous buying positions and was with Filenes for 12 years until they closed in May 2006.

She also recently joined the QxH Vendor Council, which is a combined advisory board leveraging the strengths from both their QVC and HSN vendor communities. Krivelow holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Jenna is the Director of Product & Design for The North Face for the Americas region. Jenna leads a team that consists of design, technical design and product developers that drive the entire product creation process for the Americas region. Her responsibilities span from strategic line planning to the successful commercialization of styles, while possessing a deep understanding of the Americas’ marketplace, consumer behavior, and competitive landscape.
 
Prior to working at The North Face, Jenna spent 12 years working in dance, gymnastics and cheer space leading design, merchandising and product developers. She holds a Master of Science in Apparel Design and Production from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK and a bachelor’s degree in Textile and Apparel Management from the University of Missouri-Columbia in Columbia, MO.

After graduating from the TAM program in 1988, Beth made her mark in retail, going from the store floor to the C-suite.
 
She has broad multichannel global business experience in Specialty Retail, E-commerce, Wholesale/Concession, Franchise, Department Store and Manufacturing based businesses. And a versatile category leader with expertise in Fine & Fashion Jewelry, Accessories, Watches, Apparel, Beauty/Personal Care and Home Décor. Beth has served as Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer at Pandora Jewelry, Fossil Group and Claire’s.
 
Beth holds a BS in Textile and Apparel Management from the University of Missouri and the Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School.
 
She has dedicated her career doing what she loves; managing and growing world class businesses and mentoring young professionals into executives.

Hillary found her calling when she transferred to the Department of Textile and Apparel Management. She majored in Apparel Merchandising and Marketing and graduated in 2001.

She worked as a personal live-in assistant throughout the summer after graduation then found a “real” job as a Product Developer at a watch company, MZ Berger. After one year, she moved to Carole Hochman Sleepwear as a Production Assistant for Jockey. She then went to Victoria’s Secret and was there for 7 years. She worked on Knit Tops, Swimwear, VSX, and Glamour Lingerie. She also lived in Hong Kong for two years working out of the sourcing office.Then Hillary moved to NYC and was the Senior Production Manager for Bras at Aerie. In 2018, Hillary joined Chico’s FAS, in in Fort Myers, Florida and has recently rejoined American Eagle Outfitters as Director of Production with Aerie.

As an industry apparel executive for more than 30 years working in all facets of the sector, Bret has had the unique experience to work in business in 70 countries, working with artisans and experts worldwide. Having been in more than 1,000 factories that employ 200,000 people, he cares deeply about the value of the opportunity this industry brings to developing countries and its people.Founder and CEO of Stars Design Group, a fashion design and production house, he believes in fostering an environment of innovation and evolution to stay ahead of the rapidly changing business climate. With offices worldwide and a network of 67 factories globally, Bret helps clients (brands and retailers) solve garment initiatives and production goals, regardless of category or country.

Uniquely Saint Louis based, with its historic legacy in apparel and new focus of innovation, Bret is invested in the blend of talent and technology to develop solutions that serve the demands of the consumer base, while supporting social and environmental goals.

Nathan is the Design Director with Perry Ellis International in New York and a TAM alumni from the Class of 2011. Nathan began his career in Technical Design at Soft Surroundings, Inc. In 2013, he moved to New York and met a TAM alumni who offered him a job as a Technical Designer at a small design studio in Manhattan.

Eager to transition to Creative design, Nathan began a rapid succession of freelance projects at various brands throughout the Garment District, which led him to Tory Burch in 2014. By his 3rd season there, Nathan had travelled with the company to Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh, and Bangkok, and was managing a growing team of Designers and TDs. He played a dynamic role in launching Tory Sport by Tory Burch in 2015. Nathan joined the Design team at Ralph Lauren Corporation in 2016. Having focused primarily on Cut & Sew Knitwear until this point, he was driven to expand his reach to include Wovens and Functional Outerwear. By 2019, having developed a keen interest Menswear, he became the Design Director at Aimé Leon Dore Inc. where he oversaw all Men’s Apparel and Accessories for 2 years.

Innovation and diversity are the hallmarks of Nathan’s design portfolio, but his true passion lies in actualizing the ambitions of fellow creatives. Building on this idea, Nathan started his own Consulting business in 2021, which allows him the pleasure and flexibility to do just that. Today, Nathan offers Design, Development, and Technical Services for licensors, private clients, and emerging brands in New York City and Los Angeles.

Nicole moved to New York City upon graduating from Mizzou and began her career working for Ralph Lauren, where she discovered her passion for the creative side of the fashion industry. She started in the Design and Product Development Department and from there, moved into a role in Visual Merchandising. After five years with Ralph Lauren, she decided to take on a new challenge as the National Retail Coordinator with Dolce & Gabbana, training staff all over the US and Canada on product knowledge and visual merchandising techniques.
 
She met Brazilian couture designer, Carlos Miele, at a fashion show and soon after began working closely with him as his International Brand Manager. She traveled to Paris and Brazil to oversee design concepts, brand launches, and international showrooms. She then worked as the Creative Visual Director for Diesel overseeing the creative vision for corporate events, 9 company showrooms, and the retail/wholesale channels; as well as managing a team of Visual Merchandisers located throughout the US. For her next career move, she joined the Visual Merchandising team at Michael Kors, helping to open more than 65 stores domestically and abroad, while also creating the global visual directives for the company. Following that role, she worked for retail consulting firm, Winston Retail Solutions, utilizing all her brand experience and knowledge as a Creative Account Manager working with clients such as Under Armour, Calvin Klein, and Lucky Brand Jeans.
 
In order to spend more time with her daughters (Zoe and Campbell), Nicole began freelancing as a Stylist. While utilizing her New York City fashion industry contacts, she has worked with many luxury brands including Prada, Miu Miu, Lanvin, and Alexander McQueen.
 
In 2016, She moved to Seattle where she started her own Fashion Consulting business, Emerald City Stylist. She has been spending her time on a range of projects with this new venture – from consulting on Interior Design stints to providing Personal Shopping services, while also doing contract work for Eddie Bauer. She is also working part-time for the East Seattle Foundation managing a college-to-career support program for students at the University of Washington.